An Evening With Soe Soe

One of the highlights of the visit to Mandalay was the trip to Soe Soe's village for a meal with his family. When Soe Soe got word that he could come back to Burma he had to find a way to make a living there again. His wife had had to sell his trishaw while he was first in Thailand just to feed the family. He wanted to go back to being a driver but he needed the proper permits before he could get set up. He was told that he needed a blood test which he had to pay for. He took the results back to the official and was told that his blood was bad. He knew this wasn't so because he saw the results of the test but he ended up having to pay off the official in order to get the license. Shortly after this a couple from France visited him in Mandaly. He had met them a few years ago before he left Burma. They decided to buy him his own trishaw. They bought a beautiful old one and Soe Soe completely over hauled it and painted it to look very sharp. We bought him a headlight and tail lights as well as a new tire rim and he definitely had the snazziest trishaw in the city.
Soe Soe's mother is a nun and has been since he was a child as a reaction to her husband taking on a second wife. They were from Shan State.
We had to take the public bus to his village which was a few kilometers outside the city. The bus was a 1940's, small bus, loaded to the gills. I thought he was joking when he said it was the bus! It was rush hour. We crawled over sacks and bags in the isles about a foot deep and I ended up squashed into the long back seat between an old couple on one side and kids on the other. Philip stood in the isle and had to more or less crouch because he couldn't stand upright the isle was so full of stuff. The fellow who rode shotgun and collected the money had to crawl along clinging to the outside of the bus to collect the fares through the windows. People even got on the roof ( we joking call that the upper class!).We were sure we would have to exit through the windows but as if by a miracle a path opened up for us. Oh did I say it was hot like an oven in the bus? We must have reeked by the time we got off.

The village was very beautiful and traditional. The homes were all bamboo or teak with thatch and they were all up in the air. Each home was surrounded by all manner of funky fences with animals and kids running around the yards. You don't actually get to go inside them because they're mainly for sleeping, everything else is done outside. Before leaving Mandaly we had stocked up on goodies and treats for gifts and we had a three month supply of small soaps, shampoo and toothbrushes from all the hotels we had been in.
As we walked along Soe Soe was taking us into to all his neighbours yards to introduce us and give them gifts. Then we got to a most beautiful spot and that was where we were to eat. It was the home of their elderly neighbours. We didn't question why we were there and not at his house. They took us over to their village temple where a little ceremony was underway to bring special offerings to the monks because the next day was to be a full moon festival. The kids were all dressed up and making the offerings. We were then offered tea and a sweet while everyone watched very loud tv and smoked the cigarettes we had given them right in the temple!
After touring around the village we returned to his neighbours and played with the kids for awhile. I am so ashamed to say I can't remember anyone's names so I can't call his wife by name but she made a meal using two of the small bucket type charcoal burners while we all squated around. We had a candlelight dinner outside under the stars. What a feast she made while carrying a whining, tired baby on her back. I couldn't hold the baby because she was shy and she had a cold.
Before we headed back to the city Soe Soe showed us where he and his wife live. They sleep in a lean-to on the back of another house and it's just a little bigger than their bed. It holds them and their two youngest children and all the other kids each sleep in different households and for this they pay high rent.
We decided to help. The neighbour where we had eaten offered Soe Soe the opportunity to take a structure, which was an animal shelter with a frame and roof, and make it into a house on his property. We gave Soe Soe $200 USD and he said that should buy the woven bamboo walls and anything else he needs to get his family under one roof. We were particularly interested to do this because his kids are not able to go to school until he gets his home sorted out. School is free but you must buy your own books and uniforms which keeps many children from attending. We gave his fourteen year old daughter money to buy books and school uniforms and she had to keep herself from crying her eyes out because she wants to go so badly.
After kisses all around we headed off on motorcycles back to the city. I was scared with the wind blowing through my hair and the traffic roaring by but I was invigorated by the small help we could be to one family and the big difference it would make to their lives.

Giving Soe Soe money was a little hairy. When you go to Burma you have to guess how much money you might need and you have to take it all with you in clean new american bills. It's nearly impossible to predict how much you'll need, we heard that prices went up 25-35 percent with fuel hikes and American interest and Hilary Clinton's visit just to give you an idea how fast things can change. Well we were only a quarter of the way into the trip and we had no idea how much more money we would need and a quarter of the money we did have turned out to be not new enough, not the right serial numbers or with invisible folds or blemishes. This made handing over some of it a little hairy because there is absolutely no way to get more.

It's really really hard for people in Burma right now because of inflation and all the stuff going on with politics, the price of basics for locals has become unrealistic.